Shawn Gumataotao Quotations

There's no flexibility in helping agencies manage their money on a daily basis.

But there is a concern that GPSS, which is the largest government agency, doesn't have the guidance of a chief financial officer. They need someone to do that sort of financial management and planning to prepare for situations like this month's three pay periods.

We're trying to make sure we're clear about what expenditures they have for fiscal 2005 and 2006 because they're not entitled to any more money for 2006. But we are going to make sure that there's no problem with payroll for Friday.

A number of portions in the request were identified as items that, through the normal process of follow-up and closure of audits, could be resolved. Office of Management and Budget stated that the unresolved audit questions could be cleared up on a case-by-case basis and done administratively between the federal granting agency and the government of Guam agencies.

And there's not much flexibility in the law for advances, ... but the governor has committed all the resources of the administration to ensuring that GPSS employees get their paychecks.

On Dec. 23, GPSS asked the Department of Administration for an advance of next months' allotments so they can make payroll. What we're going to do to help them out is meet with them and review their finances.

We're working with Mr. (Juan) Flores to find funding for payroll.

In principle, what this has done is it has infringed on the executive branch's ability to manage the day-to-day operations of the government.